SIMULATION OF SIC HIGH-POWER DEVICES

The impact of SiC on high power devices and their applications is anal ysed using simulations in a very wide range of design voltages. First. a detailed presentation of the ar,isotropic form of the basic equatio ns and of the physical models for 4H-SiC used in the simulations is gi ven. Following that the application ranges of unipolar and bipolar dev ices in tile domains of voltage and frequency are predicted in the cas e of IGBTs versus MOSFETs and PiN versus Schottky rectifiers based on comparisons of the on-state voltage and of the total losses. The appli cation limit of the MOSFETs compared to IGBTs and of the Schottky rect ifiers compared to PiN rectifiers is predicted to be about 4.5 and 2.5 kV. respectively, in the case of tile 4H-SiC poly-type. The impact of technological limitations of SiC is illustrated by the case of low ch annel mobility. The merits of SiC as compared to Si are illustrated by tile case of a SiC rectifier operating together with a Si IGBT. Drama tically reduced turn-on losses are demonstrated. The superiority of Si C from tile point of view of dynamic avalanche is predicted and illust rated. Finally, some novel SiC switch structures are introduced in res ponse to the reliability problems encountered in ordinary trench MOSFE Ts.